Swipe up is the new swipe right!

Thanks to dating apps, most of us are familiar with swiping right to show the person on the other end we are interested in them. Tinder uses this process to help connect people with potential leads for their love life. Now, on Instagram, when you swipe right through stories, it had the opposite effect. It pushes that content away to the back of your story feed. Instead, you want them to swipe up! Instagram had to do something different to show they were DTF. I mean Down To Funnel Connections, of course.

This article will walk you through this new phenomenon of swiping up by discussing the following elements:

• What is Swiping Up?

• What Was it Like Before?

• This is a Game Changer

• How to Use This Feature

What is Swiping Up?

Swiping up is a new feature on Instagram that allows validated accounts to include easy to click through links in their stories. It may sound simple, but everyone knows the frustration of showing links on Instagram, the only place you can hyperlink otherwise is in the bio. Though it’s a small step, it will lead to massive increases in business engagements, leads, and traffic.

Gone are the days of swiping past stories that direct you to a link in someone’s bio or to visit an external website. Nope, not happening. People often go onto this app to simply relax their brain and not think past scrolling through updates. Thankfully Instagram has made it easier for users to access the links posted by brands and influencers. No longer being redirected or having to leave the app to access websites, content, videos, and more will increase traffic and engagement for your business.

What Was it Like Before?

Previously, as an Instagram user, you could only have one clickable link in your bio, forcing you to either take eyes off other content you could showcase or create a linktree. A Linktree was the solution to the issue of not being able to have more than one link in your profile’s bio. It is a short link that leads traffic to a full list of all the active links you want audiences to click through. Despite being a better solution, it still didn’t resolve the issue of not being able to click on a hyperlink directly in someone’s story. There were a lot of steps where you had to leave a person’s story, go to their page and then find the link in their bio.

How It’s a Game Changer for Your Business:

Now all someone has to do to get to that same link is swipe up. No leaving the app or the story and finding the link. It’s simple and increases traffic and sales.

It’s up to you what you want to include as your link. Some of the best ideas are links to:

• Blog posts

• Videos

• Landing pages

• Virtual events

• Lead magnets

How to Do This:

Before beginning, you need to ensure you have the following:

• A business account

• 10,000+ followers

• OR a verified account

You can switch your account by going to your profile settings, then account, and selecting the business option.

Now to make the actual story, capture a photo or video with Instagram’s story feature. If you would rather take a photo before and upload it, no sweat, that works too. We can’t always be perfect on the spot. When you have your picture chosen, in the top right corner, you can click the URL button to add a link. Voila!

Make sure to include a call to action. Something as simple as including the text “swipe up” is perfect. If you want to get more creative by using gifs, go for it.

The goal is to get clients to take action once they get to the landing page from the swipe link. It’s your job to provide relevant links that direct traffic to making sales of subscribing to your business.

If you want to use the swipe up link but need to grow your brand’s following first, reach out to our social media team here at Blitz by contacting hello@blitzmarketing.co.